Worldwide Sports News

34 Years Ago Today

On August 27, 1992, the Blue Jays acquired David Cone from the Mets in a trade. This was the first of two times the Jays traded for Cone. In exchange, Jeff Kent and Ryan Thompson were sent to New York.

At the time of the trade, the Jays held a 72-55 record, leading the Orioles by two games in the AL East. They finished the season 24-11 after the trade.

Kent played for the Mets until the end of July 1996, after which he was traded to Cleveland. He later joined the Giants, where he blossomed into a star. And recently, he became a Hall of Famer.

He was a solid player for the Mets, hitting .279/.327/.453 with 67 home runs in 498 games—a strong performance for a second baseman.

Thompson played for the Mets through the 1995 season, posting a .239/.300/.417 line with 39 home runs over 283 games.

Cone posted a 4-3 record with a 2.55 ERA in eight games (seven starts) down the stretch for the Jays. He started twice in the ALCS, going 1-1 with a 3.00 ERA, and made two starts in the World Series, finishing with no decisions and a 3.48 ERA.

Winning the World Series ultimately validated the trade for the Blue Jays. Kent likely wouldn’t have received the playing time in Toronto needed to reach the level he achieved with the Giants.

The Jays acquired Cone again at the start of the 1995 season, but that year did not turn out as successfully.

26 Years Ago Today

Darrin Fletcher belted three solo home runs against the Rangers, propelling the Jays to a 6-4 victory. That season, Fletcher hit 20 home runs in 122 games.

Fletcher was a favorite of mine—a left-handed-hitting catcher with decent power. While he wasn’t known for his defense and his arm was below average, pitchers still seemed to like throwing to him.

The win improved the Jays’ record to 68-62, leaving them third in the AL East and 5.5 games back. Ultimately, they couldn’t close the gap and finished the season 83-79, still in third place.

We had some good players on that team:

Teams in need of some late-minute help for their playoff push may be in luck.

The Reds placed third baseman Eugenio Suarez and outfielder TJ Friedl on outright waivers, per The Athletic, opening the door for them to land with a contender for the final month of the season.

Teams can claim either player and assume the remainders of their respective contracts, but they otherwise would stay with Cincinnati if there are no takers in a 48-hour window.

The Reds could also still release both players if they go unclaimed.

While the trade deadline is the final time teams can trade for players since the elimination of the waiver trade period, these kind of moves open the door for players to find new homes.

The Angels caused a stir in 2023 when they placed six players on waivers and five landed with new teams, while the Yankees also lost Harrison Bader to the Reds due to the same mechanism.

Los Angeles’ tactic deviated from the norm due to the startling amount of players placed on waivers and that some of them had been enjoying solid seasons.

The two players the Reds could lose are not having strong seasons, and The Athletic reported that Cincinnati is considering possible financial savings.

Friedl and Suarez are reportedly also not expected to be with the team in 2027.

Suarez, the bigger name of the two, is slashing just .208/.295/.410, although he has 19 homers and 57 RBIs.

The 35-year-old reportedly is owed less than $3 million for the remainder of the year, and has a $16 million mutual option for the 2027 season.

Suarez, a righty, owns a .715 OPS versus righties and a .668 OPS against lefties, which does not offer much value to contending teams.

Friedl, 26, owns a .476 OPS across 253 plate appearances this year and is unlikely to be offered a contract by the Reds in arbitration, per The Athletic.

His shocking OPS makes him one of the worst players in baseball this year since Washington’s Nasim Nunez’s .547 mark is the lowest among qualified players.

The Reds (63-71) entered Thursday nine games back in the NL wild-card race.

Good morning! A few days ago we showed you a poll in which Willson Contreras finished in fourth in an early look at the AL MLVP race. But he wasn’t the only Red Sox player who received votes in that poll. Ceddanne Rafaela, who’s not all that far from Bobby Witt, Jr. in the AL bWAR race, was also named on the ballot. Wilyer Abreu wasn’t, but he’s fifth in the AL in bWAR, just behind Ceddy and ahead of Willson and he could get a vote or two when the real voting concludes.

It wouldn’t be the first time that three Red Sox players received MVP votes in one season, if they all end up on the list. But it is very rare that the Sox land three position players on the list. Last year’s AL MVP race saw Garrett Crochet and Aroldis Chapman receive votes. In 2021, Rafael Devers finished 11th, Xander Bogearts 12th, and Nate Eovaldi 15th. You have to go back to the dominant 2018 team to find three position players who received votes, with Mookie winning the hardware, of course and Chris Sale rounding out the vote-getters. In light of the fact that the roster sure looked weighted towards pitchers from day one — not to mention the fact that the Sox spent much of the season as one of the lowest-scoring teams in baseball — it would be quite the achievement for three hitters to match that 2018 team.

Talk about awards voting and whatever else you want in this space and, as always, be good to one another.

Morning, all!

Former Ranger manager Jeff Banister was involved in a shouting match between Arizona Diamondbacks’ coaches and the Chicago Cubs on Monday after Arizona accused the Cubs of stealing signs.

Apparently the secret to Justin Foscue’s success, like the secret of flying in Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, is to not think about it too much.

And speaking of classic literature, Nathan Eovaldi’s return from the IL is a deep, dark mystery that no one has any answers about just like Yossarian’s liver in Catch 22.

And, similar to The Mist, you may think the authors of the 2026 Ranger season are setting up some sort of miraculous ending that gets the protagonists to safety but you would be wrong.

Makenzie Gore followed up Jacob deGrom’s uncharacteristically poor outing with a poor outing of his own, giving up four runs on eight hits and four walks last night.

Dylan Drieling is making AA pitching his bitch.

Shutout wins, high-scoring wins—the Dodgers’ minor-league affiliates had it all in an eventful Wednesday with five games since the Comets had a doubleheader on the schedule.

Player of the day

It didn’t lead to a victory, and just 58 pitches show he still has some ways to go early, but it’s difficult not to get too excited about what Gavin Stone has been doing in Oklahoma City.

Stone has allowed just four hits in 11.2 innings across four starts, and in his previous two outings, we’re talking about a single baserunner in seven innings, walking none and allowing just one hit.

Triple-A Oklahoma City

Stone continues to impress with yet another scoreless outing. Sadly, shortly after Stone was removed from the game, reliever Nick Robertson imploded in the sixth inning to give up the lead. And while the Comets stayed in it thanks to a Hyeseong Kim sac fly in the same frame, they were outscored in the eighth to take the 5-4 loss.

Speaking of talented young pitchers, one of the main differences in the Comets shutting out the Chihuahuas in the other game of this doubleheader was the performance of Bobby Miller. The young right-hander followed a scoreless start from Christian Romero with three scoreless frames out of the bullpen, punching out five and walking none. Cleanup hitter Ryan Fitzgerald hit a two-run bomb as part of a six-run effort.

Double-A Tulsa

Outhomering the opposition four to zip, it’s actually a wonder that the Drillers didn’t build a bigger lead than this final result of 8-4, beating the Rockhounds on the road. Josue De Paula hit his 26th bomb of the campaign and was joined by a ferocious bottom of the order, as ninth-hole hitter Joe Vetrano and seventh-hole hitter Logan Wagner each hit a long ball.

While De Paula made the most out of his sole hit, the other top prospect in the Drillers outfield, Mike Sirota, had a disappointing performance, hitless in five at-bats with three punchouts. On the pitching side, Aidan Foeller walked a batter per inning, but still kept the zeroes on the board through four frames.

High-A Great Lakes

As both teams seemed to score at will in Class A, the story was the opposite down in the home of the Loons. The Great Lakes required just a pair of runs to shut out Lansing on the back of outstanding pitching from Will Gagnon and the bullpen.

One out short of completing five full innings, Gagnon left the win to reliever Seamus Barrett, who overcame his awful 2026 campaign in which he has allowed more runs (47) than innings pitched (44), recording a scoreless frame.

Leadoff hitter Eduardo Quintero scored both runs for the Loons, one on a fielder’s choice and the other on a wild pitch. Quintero also stole his 43rd bag of the year, joined by Emil Morales, who also stole a base and was the only Loons player with multiple hits.

Class-A Ontario

With three separate players recording multiple stolen bases—Javier Herrera, Abel Lorenzo, Kellon Lindsey, each of them without getting caught once—the Tower Buzzers put forth a dominant offensive effort to beat the Ports in a game with 22 runs.

Third baseman Caleb Johnson got the party started early with a three-run shot, and by the end of the third, the Tower Buzzers already led 8-0 on their way to scoring 13 runs. In deflating news, shortstop Jonedry Vargas left this game early after getting hit in the wrist. While sometimes you see a player try to carry on for an inning or two before getting replaced in situations such as this one, Vargas was immediately replaced by a pinch runner.

Starter Jack O’Connor and none of the relievers who followed him delivered what one might call an efficient performance, but Ontario had such a cushion, it still held on to the W with relative ease.

Transactions

The Comets activated right-handed pitcher Chris Campos off the IL.

Wednesday’s scores

• Oklahoma City 4, El Paso 5
• Oklahoma City 6, El Paso 0
• Midland 4, Tulsa 8
• Great Lakes 2, Lansing 0
• Stockton 9, Ontario 13

Thursday’s schedule

• 4:05 p.m. PT: Great Lakes (Brooks Auger) vs. Lansing (Samuel Dutton)
• 4:35 p.m. PT: Oklahoma City (Cole Irvin) vs. El Paso (JP Sears)
• 5:00 p.m. PT: Tulsa (TBD) at Midland (TBD)
• 7:05 p.m. PT: Ontario (TBD) at Stockton (Colin Fitzgerald)

It was a rough night for the Pharm, with two affiliates suffering defeats, and another being forced to think about a four-run deficit until the resumption of their rained-out game this afternoon. But Bryan Rincon continues to be red hot at the plate, with a a 1.075 OPS this month. And Gabriel Rincones Jr. had a homer; it was a wonderful night for Rincon(es).

Syracuse 11, Lehigh Valley 1

The IronPigs scored just a single run on seven hits; the Mets scored 11 on their 15. Gabriel Rincones Jr. was responsible for that lone Lehigh Valley run, homering for one of his three hits on the day. No other IronPig had more than one hit, and no IronPigs walked at all, though they did accrue 12 strikeouts. Starter Drake Fellows struggled mightily, surrendering 10 hits, three of them homers, in 4.1 innings of work. He walked just one but struck out just one as well; he allowed seven runs (though only six were earned). Tanner Banks pitched a hitless inning with 2 Ks. Michael Mercado had rough sledding in his inning, allowing three runs on four hits.

Reading 6, Binghamton 2

The Fightin Phils were done scoring after the fourth, but by then they had all they needed. Pedro León was two for four with three RBIs, and Bryan Rincon was two for three; both had homers. Cody Bowker got the win with a 5 IP, 3 H, 4, K, 1 ER performance. Like their AAA allies, the Phils didn’t take many free passes, with only Carson DeMartini taking one.

Wilmington 11, Jersey Shore 6

A six run Rocks explosion doomed the Claws in this battle of the Blues. Devin Saltiban was two for three with a walk and three RBIs, and Kodey Shojinaga drove in two runs despite not having a hit (via productive groundouts). The Theshers worked seven walks on the day, taking as many strikeouts. Six BlueClaw pitchers toed the mound, with four of them allowing runs; Sam Highfill was on the mound for that six-run inning, and so took the loss. The BlueClaws loaded the bases in the bottom of the 9th, all three baserunners reaching via walk, but couldn’t bring any runs across the plate.

Lakeland 3, Clearwater 0, Suspended in 4th

This one got rained out in the fourth, and will be finished this afternoon. The Thresher offense hadn’t done much before the suspension (two hits, singles from Reece Moroney and Will Gasparino). Starter Brad Pacheco struck out six Flying Tigers, but allowed three runs on four hits.

Tomato, tomahto. You say pitchers’ duel. I say boring. You might counter point that I’d have viewed the whole thing differently if my team had the two runs. Or if it had held on to the four-run lead Tuesday. Or the lead on Saturday. In the end, it’s just a series of disappointments and questions about what might have been. I suspect none of this is going to do any long term damage to the Cubs. I never thought they had a very good chance of catching the Brewers and I don’t really think the Phillies are going to pass the Cubs. Recall that the Cubs have the tiebreaker and the Phillies will have to pass, not just catch the Cubs. While you might look at a bunch of games with the Brewers and see potential disaster. They have a similar bunch of games with the Braves and equal possibility of disaster. Or even switching spots with the Braves and wrecking them.

I’ve said it elsewhere in posts, at the end of the day I will hat tip Jed Hoyer and the terrific job he did bringing this team together. I continue to believe that this team has a non-delusional chance of winning the World Series. I also think, at best, they are running way on the outside against two (or more) very good horses on the inside. It’s not going to be easy and everything would have to break right. To think otherwise, you are into that delusional territory.

At the same time, one can raise an eyebrow at Jed. Pitchers with injury history are not any new market inefficiency. Yes, there is some value to picking up some discounted value for damaged goods. You are almost silly not to. I see the Brewers and Brandon Woodruff that way. A calculated risk at value for a guy who can be great but has injury issues. The problem is, so much of the Cubs pitching staff had injury history. At some point, you gotta get some horses who can pile up some effective innings. The Cubs got burned because seemingly every one of those guys with the injury history spent time injured. Compounding that, almost all of them had worst cased scenarios on the severity of their injury and/or the difficulty rehabbing the injury. At this late date, a key pitcher had his return pushed back due to a setback with his recovery.

You can give a guy kudos and a sideways look. There is a lot of good and some foreseeable missteps. Still, even with all of that. With one of the largest collections of pitcher injuries I’ve ever seen one team have, there was the Cub pitching rolling into Arizona. The club had a rough trip to Seattle and were looking to bounce back. The bright side? Arguably the team’s three best pitchers were lined up to start the three games in Arizona. Collectively they gave you 20 innings of one run baseball. Three Superhero awards for the starters in three days. That’s going to feel like it should be a sweep for the good guys. Worst case? Two out of three.

Darn. They only got one. That stings a little. This trip could easily have featured four wins and it’s not insane to imagine five or six. They got two. Three bullpen losses on the trip. Just when everything seemed to be settling down, old wounds reopened. Not optimal.

Still, this is a hat tip game. Diamondback pitching was fantastic. Diamondback defense was very good. Diamondback hitting was good enough. Come home, regroup. Get back after it.

THREE POSITIVES:

• Matthew Boyd threw six innings of one-run ball. Nice bounce back after a couple of rough ones. Final decision in fewer than 30 games, but in some order this series probably had your three pitchers for a three-game series.
• Pete Crow-Armstrong had the only extra-base hit out of two total team hits. He should have scored, save for a missed balk call that he forced with aggressive baserunning.
• Tyrone Taylor continues to impress. He had a single and stole a base.

Game 134, August 26: Diamondbacks 2, Cubs 0 (76-58)

THREE HEROES:

• Superhero: Matthew Boyd (.169). 6 IP, 20 BF, 3 H, 2 BB, R, 5 K (L 8-3)
• Hero: Trent Thornton (.045). IP, 4 BF, H, K
• Sidekick: Pete Crow-Armstrong (.017). 1-4, 2B

THREE GOATS:

• Billy Goat: Nico Hoerner (-.153). 0-4
• Goat: Alex Bregman (-.149). 0-3, BB
• Kid: Gabriel Arias (-.119). 0-3

WPA Play of the Game: Jordan Lawlar’s solo homer in the sixth off of Boyd. (.166)

Cubs Play of the Game: Pete Crow-Armstrong’s double leading off the top of the sixth. (.092)

Cubs Player of the Game:

Game 133 Winner: Clay Holmes received 61 of 62 votes. I did not think this was a unanimous choice situation. The Holmes start has long term implications. The Happ homer gave them their best chance of winning that game and was a terrific plate appearance.

Rizzo Award Standings: (Top 5/Bottom 5)

The award is named for Anthony Rizzo, who finished first in this category three of the first four years it was in existence and four times overall. He also recorded the highest season total ever at +65.5. The point scale is three points for a Superhero down to negative three points for a Billy Goat.

• Pete Crow-Armstrong +26
• Alex Bregman +20
• Ben Brown +13.5
• Carson Kelly +12.5
• Javier Assad/Trent Thornton +12
• Edward Cabrera -12.5
• Jameson Taillon -13
• Nico Hoerner -14
• Dansby Swanson -17
• Caleb Thielbar -18.5

Scoreboard Watching: Will return following Friday’s game.

Up Next: An off day Thursday, then 13 straight games. So we go to Fangraphs for the pre-stretch look at potential record. Fangraphs had the Cubs at 4-2 on the trip, winning three close ones in Arizona before the trip, if I recall. They have this stretch at 6-6-1, breaking down to 4-3 at home and then 2-3-1 on the road with a pure 50 percent in the opener of the road trip being a pure coin flip game.

The Reds come to Wrigley at 63-71. An unusual thing ahead of an off day, but both teams have listed starters on MLB.com. They are showing David Peterson (7-7, 5.17) for the Cubs. David is 4-1 with a 3.93 as a Cub, significantly turning around his season. Ironically, his ground ball to fly ball ratio has actually dropped a bit as a Cub. So the Cub infield defense is not solely responsible for the improvement. David pitched well in Seattle in one of the games that got away, allowing two runs over six.

The Reds start 24-year-old righty Rhett Lowder (5-8, 5.13). Rhett is holding pretty steady at 2-2, 5.54 over his last seven starts. He allowed three runs over six against the Diamondbacks and won his last start. The Cubs had more luck against Lowder as a starter (3 runs in 3 innings) than as a reliever (2 scoreless innings).

I’m betting the Cubs offense bounces back in a big way in this series. The Reds are sometimes a target for Ian Happ’s big weekends. The Reds are 25th (4.53) in bullpen ERA, 25th in bullpen WHIP (1.43) and have the seventh most bullpen losses (27). So the bullpen can be beat if you can get starters out of these games. Fangraphs really likes the Cubs in this series, with this first one topping out at about 65 percent. The Cubs have a tricky September, it would be very beneficial to grab three right away (though those would obviously be August wins).

Good morning friends!

The M’s dropped the series finale in a sleepy 6-0 loss to the Phillies yesterday that saw the offense unable to even muster a threat against Jesús Luzardo.

It’s a Mariners off-day today as the team heads across the border to Toronto for a weekend set with the Blue Jays.

In Mariners news…

• Dan Szymborski at Fangraphs checked back in on Cal Raleigh’s season-long numbers after his three-homer game.
• Bryce Miller was reportedly available out of the bullpen yesterday, possibly signaling some changes on the horizon for the starting rotation.

Around the league…

• Giants infielder Willy Adames has been diagnosed with a UCL sprain. The team has not yet decided whether he will get surgery to repair it.
• Cubs right-hander Ben Brown faced a setback in his rehab from a neck injury, leaving his availability for the stretch run up in the air.
• Pirates catcher Endy Rodriguez underwent hip surgery, cutting his 2026 season short.
• TWG Global, the holding company run by Dodgers owner Mark Walter, issued a statement yesterday regarding a recent federal probe into the company.
• Buss Sports Capital — who recently sold its ownership stake in the Los Angeles Lakers to Dodgers owner Mark Walter — is joining Kwanza Jones and Jose E. Feliciano as part of the new Padres ownership group.
• With Dana Brown now gone, Patrick Dubuque at Baseball Prospectus poured one out for the end of an era in Houston. ($)

Anders’ pick…

• The 18th annual Run of Hope Seattle is coming Sunday, September 20 to support Seattle Children’s Hospital. Mark your calendar and get your race number!

A late rally fueled an exciting win for the Yankees on Monday over the rival Astros. A trio of big hits from Cody Bellinger, Spencer Jones, Jazz Chisholm, and a Luis García Jr. homer to cap things off in the eighth and ninth secured the 9-3 win in the Bronx. It was a full slate of games elsewhere, as there was plenty of action around the Junior Circuit.

With a satisfying Yankee win in the fold, let’s take a look at what else went down on a busy Monday.

Tampa Bay Rays (79-53) 3, Detroit Tigers (62-71) 0

Despite a relatively tight score, the Rays were in the driver’s seat for the entirety of this game. They took an early 2-0 lead, thanks to hits from Jonny DeLuca and Cedric Mullins. From there, it was the work on the mound that got things done.

The talented Freddy Peralta was on the bump for Tampa Bay, and made quick work of the Tigers’ bats in easily his best start yet for Tampa Bay since coming over from the Mets at the Trade Deadline. Across six innings of work, the veteran righty struck out four while allowing just a pair of hits while keeping Detroit off the board. Peralta had previously allowed 17 runs in 21.1 innings for the Rays (7.17 ERA), but they’ve been working with him on ways to get back to a semblance of the form that motivated the Mets to trade for the erstwhile Brewers ace this past offseason.

The Rays later added some insurance in the sixth inning thanks to a sacrifice fly, before the bullpen picked up right where Peralta left off. Kevin Kelly and Tyler Wells combined to pitch three scoreless innings out of the Tampa Bay ‘pen, locking down the shutout victory for their squad. They remain 3.5 games in front of the Yankees

Other Games

Miami Marlins (68-66) 4, Boston Red Sox (73-60) 0: Speaking of shutouts, the Red Sox were on the wrong side of one against the Marlins. The Fish put up a run in each of the first two innings, thanks to a Heriberto Hernández single and an error by the Sox, before Ryan Gusto tossed 5.2 scoreless frames. The BoSox had plated at least three runs in all but one game over the course of the past month, and they’ve been MLB’s best offense in August. This time, however, they obviously never dented home plate in the loss — though they still have a solid cushion in the Wild Card race.

Chicago White Sox (70-63) 10, Texas Rangers (66-68) 4: For the second day in a row, the White Sox plated double-digit runs against the Rangers. Brenton Doyle led the charge for Chicago in this one, tallying four RBIs in his two-hit night, highlighted by a three-run blast in the sixth inning that put his squad up by a big number, while surprising All-Star Tristan Peters homered in his fifth consecutive game. A trio of Sox pitchers each tossed three solid innings, with Sean Burke getting the start. The White Sox’ 70th win of the season keeps their division lead at 2.5 games as they continue to impress. Texas took a hit in the Wild Card, but Houston’s loss means that they’re still just half a game back of the also-sub-.500 Astros in the AL West.

AL Wild Card Rock Fight

Cleveland Guardians (68-66) 4, Los Angeles Angels (52-82) 3: Elsewhere in the Central, the Guardians netted a close one against the lowly Angels to complete a sweep. Down for much of this game, they plated a pair in the top half of the ninth to flip their deficit into a lead, thanks to huge swings from Steven Kwan and Travis Bazzana. The win—their seventh in a row—helped Cleveland keep pace with Chicago, and keep hold of the final Wild Card spot in the AL.

Baltimore Orioles (65-68) 8, St. Louis Cardinals (66-68) 7: The Orioles won a slugfest on Monday, with an early outburst doing much of the heavy lifting. They plated seven runs in the first two frames, with a three-run shot from Leody Taveras as well as Pete Alonso’s 32nd bomb of the year. The Cardinals made their big move in the fifth, when they plated six runs to tie things up at the time, but Christian Encarnacion-Strand’s double in the ninth was the difference-maker for the Orioles in their win. They currently sit 2.5 games out of the Wild Card.

The Athletics (53-81) 7, Minnesota Twins (64-70) 4;
Toronto Blue Jays (65-69) 3, Kansas City Royals (59-75) 0:

The Blue Jays made easy work of the Royals to snap Kansas City’s nine-game winning streak, with Nathan Lukes’ three-run homer being all the offense Toronto needed. The Jays remain three back in the wild card race. Elsewhere, a four-run seventh inning propelled the A’s past Minnesota, as the skidding Twins are even with the Mariners (6-0 losers to Philadelphia) and looking upward at four teams in their hope for position in the Wild Card race.

Welcome to Thursday A’s fans!

The team has an off day today to recuperate and prepare to welcome their next series opponent to Sutter Health Park in West Sacramento. That opponent is the young, and heating up, Baltimore Orioles.

It wasn’t long ago Baltimore had seemingly waived the white flag on 2026. They’ve been hurt by injuries almost as tough as the A’s have this year. At the trade deadline last month the team made arguably the biggest trade on the position-player side of things this year when they sent former #1 pick, All-Star and long-time catcher Adley Rutschman to the division-rival Boston Red Sox for a bevy of prospects.

When they made that deal they were only 2 1/2 games back of the third and final Wild Card spot, but Baltimore was also aware that they were four games under .500 with four teams to leapfrog. It was a sensible decision considering they have a younger catcher in Samuel Basallo locked up to a long-term deal. Rutschman wasn’t the only one dealt, getting shipped out along with outfielder Taylor Ward, reliver Taylor Wells, and starter Dean Kremer. Stock up on young prospects this year and hope for better health and luck next season seemed to be their approach at the deadline.

Since then however Baltimore has played themselves back into things, jumping two teams in the Wild Card race and now just two and a half games behind the Cleveland Guardians for that final playoff spot. They’re coming into this series on a two-game winning streak and looking like a team that’s ready to make a push for the playoffs. It’ll be the A’s job this weekend to be a brick wall and help put those dreams of September baseball further out of reach of the Orioles. And for the A’s, staying out of last place in the league is a motivating factor as well.

We don’t yet have official starter schedules for the series but we have a good idea of some of the arms that’ll be taking the mound this weekend. Friday night’s series opener is likely to see lefty Jacob Lopez. Who he faces is still undecided. It’ll be one of right-handers Brandon Young or Shane Baz. Young has been what the Orioles had hoped Baz would be, though neither are an intimidating matchup on the mound for the A’s. They’re beatable.

Thanks to the off day it could be either right-hander Jack Perkins on Saturday, which would keep the A’s rotation in order, or it could be the veteran lefty Jeffrey Springs, who would be pitching on regular rest. We’ll just have to wait and see how Mark Kotsay and the coaching staff want to approach Baltimore this weekend.

No game today but on the bright side the weekend is almost here. Have a great one guys.

A’s Coverage:

• This key change(up) could unlock big success for A’s prospect
• A’s Take Series With Finale Win Over Twins 7-4
• A’s Even Series with 4-2 Victory
• Separating The Wheat From The Chaff Not So Easy
• Amidst The Despair: The Position Player Talent Is There
• What Are The Next Steps For The A’s? ($)
• Where Each A’s Player’s Contract Stands Entering Offseason
• Why Athletics Will Have Scary Offense in 2027
• Red-hot Bolte looking to build on lessons from rookie season
• Underdog Athletics prospect Cole Conn playing like a big dog for Aviators
• Why The New GM Needs To “Clean House”
• A Seemingly Rock Bottomless Glass
• MLB Trade Grades: A’s Have Quiet Trade Deadline
• This key change(up) could unlock big success for A’s prospect
• Fustercluck 2026: The Real Reasons For A Disappointing Season

MLB News and Interest:

• Astros owner says manager Joe Espada will finish season
• Giants’ Carson Whisenhunt Diagnosed With UCL Tear
• Sasaki exits in 4th inning with right middle finger blister
• Cubs set club record with 30th unanswered run over 3 games
• Ranking the top 10 free agents this offseason
• ‘No excuses’: Pratt pulled for not hustling before Brewers lose on throwing error
• Padres minor league coordinator released from ICE detainment
• Cubs, Austin Wynns Agree To Minor League Deal
• Yimi García Undergoes Thoracic Outlet Surgery
• The hottest hitting prospects right now — one for each club
• Farm systems with the best catching prospects
• From the Bronx to the beach, Yankees exec is headed to TV
• Today in Baseball History

Best of X:

A couple notable A’s prospects that are heading to the Arizona Fall League:

Early returns are fantastic for the Athletics’ first round pick this year:

Jeff McNeil coming on strong to end the season:

Very true:

Team News

Lawlar’s homer, Rodriguez’s gem (with lucky break) lead D-backs to win
“Everything was working,” Rodriguez said. “It was one of those days where you just go out there and follow your catcher, throw what the catcher is calling. This is the best I’ve felt all year on the mound.” https://www.mlb.com/dbacks/news/jordan-lawlar-home-run-lifts-d-backs-to-win-over-cubs

Off the mat, D-backs snatch series win over Cubs thanks to Eduardo Rodriguez

“From a hitter’s standpoint, I can relate to it, it feels like standing in the box when somebody is just driving pitches in at you. They feel like they’re 10 feet tall and standing on top of you,” Lovullo said. “And that’s the feeling I think E-Rod has right now, that he can throw anything he wants, and there’s going to be weak contact or swing-and-miss.”

https://arizonasports.com/mlb/arizona-diamondbacks/off-the-mat-d-backs-snatch-series-win-over-cubs-thanks-to-eduardo-rodriguez

Torey Lovullo Addresses Pete Crow-Armstrong’s Outburst Over Balk No-Callhttps://www.si.com/mlb/diamondbacks/onsi/torey-lovullo-addresses-pete-crow-armstrong-outburst-balk-no-call

Diamondbacks Reveal New Starting Pitcher For Thursday Game vs Giantshttps://www.si.com/mlb/diamondbacks/onsi/diamondbacks-reveal-starting-pitcher-thursday-game-giants

Justin Martinez is blowing on his hand again

“Way different,” Martinez said of the experience. “Because this one took a little longer, and I got more time to prepare myself to compete. And now we’re here. “I was a little frustrated because I wanted to come back as soon as possible. But I understood that I had to be smart on this one because this is my second one. There’s no way I could have another one, you know? So I had to be really smart about it.”

https://arizonasports.com/mlb/arizona-diamondbacks/justin-martinez-is-finding-his-footing-again

This 6-foot-4 prospect has two 4-game home run streaks … this month!

https://www.mlb.com/dbacks/news/dbacks-prospect-avery-owusu-asiedu-hot-streak-august-2026?t=mlb-pipeline-coverage

Other Baseball

Reds reportedly place 3B Eugenio Suárez on waivers, the same day his grand slam pushes team to historic comeback

https://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/article/reds-reportedly-place-3b-eugenio-suarez-on-waivers-the-same-day-his-grand-slam-pushes-team-to-historic-comeback-045658311.html

Crow-Armstrong, Cubs irate after umps miss pivotal balk callhttps://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/49737610/crow-armstrong-cubs-irate-umps-miss-pivotal-balk-call

Dodgers’ Skubal starts Friday in Detroit; Ohtani targeted for Sundayhttps://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/49736174/dodgers-skubal-starts-friday-detroit-ohtani-targeted-sunday

Five for Peters! White Sox LF ties rookie, club marks with HR in 5 straight gameshttps://www.mlb.com/news/tristan-peters-hits-a-home-run-in-a-fifth-straight-game

Schwarber becomes MLB’s 1st to 40 HRs, and joins elite company doing so
https://www.mlb.com/news/kyle-schwarber-reaches-40-home-runs

Anything Goes

This day in history:

https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/august-27

This day in baseball:

https://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/August_27

Rice is the oldest food we still eat today.

In 2003, scientists recovered 15,000-year-old burnt rice grains in Korea. This makes rice the oldest known food that we eat till the present.

The word “Checkmate” in chess comes from the Persian phrase “Shah Mat.”

Shah Mat means “the king is dead.”

Humans have just 1 bone fewer than horses.

Horses have an average of 205 bones or more while the adult human is set at 206. On average, horses will live for 25-30 years. 

Code red.

Five-alarm fire.

DEFCON 1.

Any term used to describe a crisis could be applied to the Dodgers right now, and that would be the case even if owner Mark Walter wasn’t under federal investigation.

Problems are stacking up, and with only a little more than a month remaining in the regular season, who knows if the Dodgers will be able to solve them before the start of the playoffs.

The Dodgers have offensive problems. They have defensive problems. They have bullpen problems. And in the wake of losing their first two games of their three-game series against the Atlanta Braves, they could soon have postseason bracket problems.

The concerns have become pronounced enough to where manager Dave Roberts has started to back off his recent tough-love approach, probably because maintaining that demeanor under these circumstances would create an overly negative atmosphere. 

“We had opportunities,” Roberts told reports at Truist Park following his team’s 6-5 loss on Wednesday.

The offense is stuck in neutral, the broken hand suffered last week by center fielder Andy Pages complicating the team’s efforts to emerge from an extended slump.

In Pages and catcher Will Smith, the Dodgers are missing two premium hitters who play premium defensive positions. Pages has been replaced by Alek Thomas and Will Smith by Hunter Feduccia and Ben Rortvedt, and at both positions, the substitutes represent major offensive downgrades.

Smith is on a minor-league rehabilitation assignment and should have about a month of major league game time to develop a rhythm in the batter’s box for the postseason. Pages won’t have any such luxury, as he could miss the remainder of the regular season.

Pages, 25, and Smith, 31, are particularly valuable to these Dodgers because some of their more experienced players are in obvious decline. Mookie Betts remains up and down, Freddie Freeman hasn’t homered since Independence Day, and Teoscar Hernández has basically been a Mendoza Line hitter for the last two months. Newcomer Kyle Tucker has just stunk.

In their last 30 games, the Dodgers have won a game by more than two runs only three times. They have scored an average of 4.2 runs per game in their last 39 games, down from 5.3 runs per game in their first 94 games of the season.

The effects of the diminished offense has been magnified by the team’s defensive shortcomings, which started becoming especially noticeable in the week leading up to the All-Star break. With Hernández in left field and Tucker in right, the Dodgers have two below-average defenders in their outfield. A defensive mistake by Hernández in the fourth inning on Wednesday turned the Dodgers’ 3-2 lead into a 4-3 deficit.

The Dodgers have played clean defense before, and they should be able to do so again. But will they be able to close out games?

When imploding $69-million closer Edwin Diaz was placed on the 15-day injured list last week, the Dodgers looked as if they would be able to manage the situation. They had other options. When Diaz was sidelined earlier in the season, Tanner Scott performed well in his place. The Dodgers also had a safety net in Roki Sasaki, the starting pitcher who was their primary ninth-inning pitcher in the playoffs last year.

So much for that.

Scott was the losing pitcher in each of the Dodgers’ first two games in this series against the Braves, reverting to the form from his disastrous first season with the team last year. As for Sasaki, he will be placed on the injured list with a ruptured blister on the middle finger of his pitching hand. 

Considering their variety of issues, it’s little wonder why the Dodgers have lost 13 of their last 15 games against teams with winning records. The only series the Dodgers won this month were against teams with sub-.500 records – the Kansas City Royals, Colorado Rockies and Pittsburgh Pirates.

The Braves are now within two games of the Dodgers for the No. 2 seed in the NL. Only the top two seeds in each league will receive a first-round bye in the playoffs.

Regardless of whether the Dodgers can hold off the Braves, they will show up in October with a fighting chance.

The reason: Their starting pitching.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tarik Skubal, Blake Snell and either Shohei Ohtani or Tyler Glasnow will make up a postseason rotation that could be historically dominant.

If they don’t pitch up to that standard, the season could end with another emergency signal: Code blue.

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